Best software for organizing ones comic collection 0

[Blueshift]

Hey folks, I've been a comic collector for a long time but I stopped many years ago. I'm just now getting ready to go through thousands of my old books in the hopes of cataloging them and am trying to determine what is the best piece of software to do so. There seems to be a lot of options out there right now making it hard to decide what my best bet is. I would love something that will allow me easily scan the barcodes rather than entering everything manually. Something that will automatically add values and has the option for grade input. I only want to do this once so using something well established with the ability to backup the database is a must.

The idea is to decide what I want to keep, what is worth having graded and what I want to sell. I've searched around for this information but didn't have any luck. I'd really appreciate any insight you kind folks might have to offer.

Thanks!

[Axelrod]

When I was looking for this a year+ ago, I didn't find anything that didn't cost a fair bit of money, like a subscription service.  So, you probably already know about the paid services like these:

https://www.collectorz.com/comic/clz-comics

https://covrprice.com/

(not recommending them specifically, I haven't tried them, I am just aware of them)  I think these do what you want in terms of bar scanning and automatically calculating a value, but they are also subscription services you pay for every month or yearly.  

 

As far as a "free" way to catalog your collection, I found

https://www.icollecteverything.com/

(which used to be "Sort It Apps", but apparently they got bought/merged/re-named).  This one is okay for what I use it for.)

I say "free" but I did pay $5.00 to "upgrade" it so I could enter my whole collection (as opposed to a limited number of titles) and also edit the individual title information.  I would say it's not very usable without that.  I think it's supposed to allow you to enter titles by using a bar code scanner, but I never tried that feature.  This app also won't automatically enter a value for your comic.  You have to figure that out yourself.  

I will also caution you about this app. in that it lets you search for images of a comic when you want to add said comic to your collection, but it apparently pulls from a database of user-uploaded images, and many of the images have pornographic pictures hidden on the backsides.  You won't even see them unless you go to "edit" an image and see if there is a "back" image included.  That was something of a shock when I first encountered it.  Some people think they are being funny, I guess.  

[Blueshift]

Thanks a ton for your reply Axelrod. The more research I do the more I'm realizing that there really isn't anything on the market that does what I need.... which is really surprising.

I'd be happy spending good money on a good piece of software but from what I'm seeing non exists. It either isn't made simple, doesn't offer prices, doesn't support mobile devices or requires you to constantly re-subscribe every time you want to access your collection.

There is definitely room for someone to take over this area of the market if they could make an intuitive and comprehensive piece of software that doesn't try to nickel and dime you for life. 

[Danno561]

On 5/5/2022 at 9:01 PM, Blueshift said:

Thanks a ton for your reply Axelrod. The more research I do the more I'm realizing that there really isn't anything on the market that does what I need.... which is really surprising.

I'd be happy spending good money on a good piece of software but from what I'm seeing non exists. It either isn't made simple, doesn't offer prices, doesn't support mobile devices or requires you to constantly re-subscribe every time you want to access your collection.

There is definitely room for someone to take over this area of the market if they could make an intuitive and comprehensive piece of software that doesn't try to nickel and dime you for life. 

I find GoCollect to be very useful, especially for slabbed books and posters. I simply add the CGC cert # and it prefills everything, adds it to your collection and prices are updated regularly.  Obviously, a bit more cumbersome for raw books which require a search (as opposed to your barcode scan approach) but it works for me. Annual subscription price is modest, imo.

[universal soldier]

CLZ will be adding pricing through an undisclosed third party in the coming months (you'll need to have a subscription to that service). I'm considering migrating my collection over to them based on what they announce. I'm currently using http://www.comicspriceguide.com/ to log my collection. The UI is kind of  but they do have a mobile app. They're a little more like overstreet with their pricing however and do not always reflect current market for hot books.

[TDDJrComics]

I've used ComicBase in the past. It supported bar code reading and their pricing was based on Heritage Auctions and http://www.atomicavenue.com sales. But it was pricey.

[X-Citable]

CLZ is fantastic, and to me it's worth every penny.  I order new books online, but I also like to go into my local shop.  While in the shop, I find it very useful to be able to pull up what I already have on order, so that I don't re-buy it. 

I find it reassuring also that the developers are very active, continually making new features and enhancing the product.  If you're using Excel or something like that, you'll be thrilled with it.  With so many volumes of different books these days and their respective variants, being able to see pictures of all the covers is very helpful, enabling you to quickly pick and include a book into your collection.  I have rarely encountered books that weren't easy to find in the database, and when it's occurred, inputting the bar code number has brought it up immediately.

I have multiple collections in mine e.g. "Ungraded", "Graded" and I have an "On Order" one which is helpful, so when they arrive I just add them to one of the other collections.  

Just use the free trial and put in a bunch of books and see if you like it.